View source for Aladdin Knowledge Systems

{{for|the American company formerly known as Aladdin Systems|Allume Systems}}
{{Infobox company
| name                = Aladdin Knowledge Systems Ltd.
| logo                = 
| type                = [[Privately-held company|Private]]
| traded_as           = {{ubl|{{NASDAQ was|ALDN}}|{{TASE was|ALDN}}}}
| genre               = 
| foundation          = {{start date and age|1985}}
| founder             = Jacob (Yanki) Margalit and Tzvi Popowski
| location_city       = [[Belcamp, Maryland]]
| location_country    = U.S.
| location            = 
| locations           = 
| area_served         = 
| key_people          = 
| fate                = Acquired by [[SafeNet]]
| industry            = Security Software & Services
| products            = eToken, eSafe, Hardlock, HASP
| services            = 
| revenue             = {{profit}} [[United States dollar|US$]] 105.9 million (''2007'')
| operating_income    = {{profit}} [[United States dollar|$]] 13.911 million (''2007'')
| net_income          = {{profit}} [[United States dollar|$]] 14.888 million (''2007'')
| assets              = 
| equity              = 
| owner               = 
| num_employees       = 464<ref name=zenobank>{{Citation |url=http://www.zenobank.com/index.php?symbol=ALDN&page=quotesearch |title=Company Profile for Aladdin Knowledge Systems Ltd (ALDN) |accessdate=2008-10-20}}</ref>
| parent              = 
| divisions           = 
| subsid              = 
| homepage            = 
| footnotes           = 
| intl                = 
}}

'''Aladdin Knowledge Systems Ltd.''' was a company that produced software for [[digital rights management]] and [[Internet security]]. The company was acquired by [[Safenet]] Inc, in 2009. Its corporate headquarters are located in [[Belcamp, Maryland|Belcamp]], Maryland.

==History==
Aladdin Knowledge Systems was founded in 1985 by [[Yanki Margalit|Jacob (Yanki) Margalit]], when he was 23 years old; he was soon joined by his brother Danny Margalit, who took the responsibility for product development at the age of 18, while at the same time completing a Mathematics and Computer Science degree at [[Tel Aviv University]]. In its early years the company developed two product lines, an [[artificial intelligence]] package (which was dropped early on) and a hardware product to prevent unauthorized software copying, similar to [[digital rights management]] (DRM). Margalit raised just $10,000 as an initial capital for the company.<ref name=Shohet>{{Citation
 |title=Aladdin's Yanki Margalit: It's not personal 
 |url=http://www.ivc-online.com/ivcWeeklyItem.asp?articleID=7672 
 |author=Shohet, Dan 
 |journal=Globes
 |date=2008-09-15 
 |accessdate=2009-11-16 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713071520/http://www.ivc-online.com/ivcWeeklyItem.asp?articleID=7672 
 |archivedate=2011-07-13 
}}</ref>

The digital rights management product became a success and by 1993 generated sales of $4,000,000. The same year that company had an [[initial public offering]] on [[NASDAQ]] raising $7,900,000.<ref>{{Citation
 | title = Aladdin completes flotation. (Aladdin Knowledge Systems finishes initial public offering on NASDAQ) 
 | url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-14668135.html
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121105205648/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-14668135.html
 | url-status = dead
 | archive-date = 2012-11-05
 | journal = Israel Business Today Article Date: October 29, 1993
}}</ref> In 2004 the company's shares were also listed on the [[Tel Aviv Stock Exchange]].<ref>{{Citation
 | title = Aladdin Knowledge Systems to Dual-List on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. 
 | url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-132339650.html
 | journal = PR Newswire |date=July 22, 2004
}}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> By 2007 the company's annual revenues reached over $105 million. 
   
In mid-2008, Vector Capital was attempting to purchase Aladdin. Vector initially offered $14.50 per share, but Aladdin's founder Margalit refused the offer arguing that the company was worth more. Aladdin's shareholders agreed on the merger in February 2009 at $11.50 per share, in cash. In March 2009, Vector Capital acquired Aladdin and officially merged it with SafeNet.<ref>{{Citation | author = Shuster, Shmuel | title = Vector completes Aladdin takeover | date = March 2009 | url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1073750.html | postscript = . }}</ref>

===Corporate timeline===
* '''1985''' – Aladdin Knowledge Systems was established
* '''1993''' – Aladdin held an [[initial public offering]]
* '''1996''' – Aladdin acquired the German company ''FAST''
* '''1998''' – Aladdin patented [[USB]] [[smart card]]-based [[authentication token]]s
* '''1998_Dec''' – Aladdin acquired the software protection business of [[Eliashim (anti virus)|EliaShim]]
* '''1999''' – Aladdin acquired the eSafe "content security" business of [[Eliashim (anti virus)|EliaShim]]
* '''2000''' – Aladdin acquired 10% of ''Comsec''
* '''2001''' – Aladdin acquired the ESD assets of ''Preview Systems''
* '''2005''' – Aladdin completed second offering – 2,000,000 shares with net proceeds of $39m
* '''2009''' – Aladdin was acquired by Vector Capital.
* '''2010''' – Aladdin was merged with Vector Capital's [[SafeNet]].<ref name=zenobank />

==Products==

===DRM===

Aladdin's '''HASP''' product line is a DRM suite of protection and licensing software with 40% global market share, used by over 30,000 software publishers. It is used  across many platforms ([[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[Linux]], [[MacOS|Mac]]).<ref name=Miller>{{Citation
 | title = March Stock of the Month: Aladdin Knowledge Systems (ALDN)
 | url = http://israelnewsletter.com/2008/03/12/march-stock-of-the-month-aladdin-knowledge-systems-aldn/
 | author = Miller, Zack
 | journal = Israel Opportunity Investor
 | date = March 12, 2008
 | access-date = November 16, 2009
 | archive-date = January 7, 2009
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090107042911/http://israelnewsletter.com/2008/03/12/march-stock-of-the-month-aladdin-knowledge-systems-aldn/
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref>

'''HASP''', which stands for ''Hardware Against Software Piracy'', was the company's first product and evolved into a complete digital rights management suite, that includes a software only option and a back office management application, in recent years also [[software as a service]] capability.

===Internet security===
In the late 1990s the company started diversifying and began offering [[Internet security]] and [[network security]] products, offering two product lines:

====Digital identity management====
[[File:EToken 6 models.jpg|200px|thumb|Six models of eTokens]]
'''eToken''', portable device for [[two-factor authentication]], pasdigital [[identity management]], mainly deployed as a [[USB]] token.

====Network security====
'''eSafe''' a line of integrated [[network security]] and [[content filtering]] products, protecting networks against cracked   and pirated Internet-borne software.

==See also==
* [[Product activation]]
* [[License manager]]
* [[List of license managers]]
* [[Floating licensing]]
* [[Silicon Wadi]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.safenet-inc.com SafeNet Inc. Data Protection & Software Licensing website]
* [http://www.safenet-inc.com/products/data-protection/content-security-esafe/ Content Security – eSafe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026025449/http://www.safenet-inc.com/products/data-protection/content-security-esafe/ |date=2011-10-26 }}
* [http://www.safenet-inc.com/products/data-protection/two-factor-authentication/etoken-pass/ eToken PASS – Aladdin Product] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015233847/http://www.safenet-inc.com/products/data-protection/two-factor-authentication/etoken-pass/ |date=2011-10-15 }}
* [http://www.aladdin.com Aladdin Knowledge Systems website]

[[Category:Information technology companies of Israel]]
[[Category:Computer security software companies]]
[[Category:Copyright enforcement companies]]
[[Category:Digital rights management]]
[[Category:Companies based in Petah Tikva]]
[[Category:Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq]]
[[Category:Software companies established in 1985]]
[[Category:1985 establishments in Israel]]